Beverage bottle cases



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TQLIV I DO, o -'J Si n 20 f n @j Y fljghLQL/tw fi/ Aug. 9, 1966 R. A.PACI-IE ETAL 3,265,237 BEVERAGE BOTTLE CASES Filed Jan. 2. 1964 5Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS 34 ROBERTA. PACHE Louls H. PETERS ATTORNEY R.A. PACHE ETAL 3,265,237

BEVERAGE BOTTLE CASES Filed Jan. 2. 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORSROBERT A. PACHE LOUIS H. PETERS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,265,237BEVERAGE BTTLE CASES Robert A. Pache, South River, Louis H. Peters,Somerville, and James H. Versteeg, Middlesex, NJ., assignors to UnionCarbide Corporation, a corporation of New York Filed Jan. 2, 1964, Ser.No. 335,161 6 Claims. (Cl. 220-21) This invention relates to beveragebottle cases and more particularly to features of construction of moldedcases.

Beverage bottle cases of moldable :materials such as thermosetting orthermoplastic resins, hard rubber and the like, have many desirableproperties not normally found in wooden cases such as freedom fromsplintering, Swelling and rotting, light weight and ability to be`readily cleaned as by Washing. In molded beverage cases, features suchas maximum strength with minimum material, ability to resist slippingwhen stacked upon another case filled with bottles, ability to receivesix-packs without damage to the Iconventionally employed cardboardcontainer, ability to resist high impact forces and generally to beadapted for hand-ling in modern equipment, are of prime importance.

It has now been found that beverages cases can be provided which meetthe aforementioned requirements. In accordance with the presentinvention, stacking of filled beverage bottle cases having two endwalls, two side walls, a bottom wall and which provide for the lcarryingof twenty-four bottles in a pattern of six bottles in each of fourcoextensive, parallel rows, is yfacilitated through the use of grommetslocated at least in the third and fourth bottle positions of the firstand fourth rows respectively, and in the first and sixth bottlepositions of both the second and third rows.

In cases used for carrying twelve bottles in a pattern which consists ofthree bottles in each of four coextensive, parallel rows, the grommets:are located at least in the first and third positions of the second andthird rows and in the first and fourth rows between the rst and secondpositions and between the second and third positions.

The grommets have slip resistant surfaces and preferably are of about 60to 85 durometer rubber.

It has also been found that damage to cardboard, four pack or six packcarriers or the like which occurs due to contact between the bottom edgeof the carrier and the bottom edge of the handle opening, can beprevented by means of an advantageous hand hole configuration.

The hand hole of the present invention comprises in the end wall of thebeverage case, an opening, of which the portion of the perimeterproximate the top edge of the end wall is straight and parallel to thebottom wall of the case. This portion of the opening gradually changesiat each end to perimeter portions which, advantageously, slope forwardthe bottom wall and which extend to a position substantially equal tothe upper most part ofthe bottom wall.

A further aspect of the present invention involves a reinforcedstructure wherein the side walls and end walls have double wall sectionsat least in the region of the four corners of the case. Reinforcin-gribs are provided between the inner and outer walls of the side and endwalls. The ribs are positioned proximate the corners of the case and theside Wall ribs are in a plane substantially parallel to the planes ofthe end walls while the end wall ribs are in a plane substantiallyparallel to the planes of the side walls.

Patented August 9, H556 ICC The invention will be more fully understoodfrom the following description taken with the drawings wherein:

FIGURE l is a top plan view of a beverage case of the present invention,

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational View of the beverage case of FIGURE l,

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the beverage case of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is an end elevational view of the beverage case of FIGURE l,

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of FIGURE l, and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary, perspective view, partly in section showing amodification of an intersection of partition walls.

The beverage bottle case 10, as shown in FIGURE l, is provided with areinforcing grid pattern which provides the strength and rigidityrequired of a twenty-four beverage bottle case. The grid is formed by aplurality of specifically positioned vertical ribs 12, 12a and 12b whichare seen in elevation in FIGURE 5.

Four partition walls lift, are seen in the modilication of FIGURE 1.This modication would normally be employed for carrying four six-packcontainers. These containers are commonly of paper, cardboard and thelike and have six interior compartments for beverage bottles. It isreadily apparent that the ribs 12b, which lie parallel to the partitionwalls 14, and which, in combination with a partition wall or an outerwall in affect enclose a beverage bottle position, can be of a heightsimilar to that of the partition walls 14, thus providing twenty-fourindividual compartments. Conversely, less than four partition walls canbe employed, thus providing a one or two compartment design, as well asa four to twenty-four compartment design.

It should be noted that, although FIGURE l shows a twenty-four beveragebottle case, the case can, obviously, be used to hold other quantitiesof beverage bottles (e.g., six, twelve, fteen or twenty) as desired.Advantageously, the grid pattern is modified according to the number ofbottles to be carried by making the required proportional changes in thelengths and positions of the ribs.

Each of the beverage bottle positions which do not have a groinmet 16therein, consists of crossed ribs I2, within a square (in someinstances, an open square) formed by ribs i261. The square of ribs 12a,is in tum, within a square formed by ribs 12b in combination with apartition wall 14 or a side or end wall.

The beverage cases are subjected during handling, as for example onautomatic conveyers, to .severe impact forces. The double wallconstruction as seen in FIGURE l, provides adequate strength withoutunduly increasing the weight of the case or the complexity ofmanufacture. In the corner zone, the side wall 2t), is combined with asecond, outer wall 29a. A vertically extending rib 22 serves to transmitimpact forces from outer wall 20a, to the inner wall 20 and the end wall24. An outer, end wall 24a, corresponds to the outer wall 20a, andsimilarly through a vertical rib 26, transmits impact forces from theouter wall 24a to the inner walls 24tand 20.

The side wall 20 has a flange portion 2S, located at its upper edge, asseen in FIGURE 2. Similarly, as seen in FIGURE 4, a ange member 30 isprovided at the upper portion of the end wall 24.

Conventional rectangular or oblong handle openings have been found tointerfere with the insertion of cardboard six packs into cases in whichvertical spacing ribs 18 could not be used against the end walls 24, be-

cause of space requirements or the like. The upper portion 32 of theperimeter of the handle opening is in the form of a straight line whichis parallel to the bottom wall 34 of the beverage case. At each end ofthe straight portion of the perimeter of the opening, the perimetergradually changes from a line parallel with the bottom wall, to aportion 36 which slopes, that is, is at an incline to the bottom wal-l.The angle must be such that the lowest portion of the opening 38, is ata height about equal to that of the uppermost part of the bottom wall34. The uppermost part of the bottom wall, as seen in FIGURE 5, isformed by the upper edge of the ribs 12, 12a and 12b. Advtantageously,the descending portion o"c the perimeter of the opening is in the formof a straight line inclined with respect to the bottom wall, at an angleof fro-m 40 to 60 degrees, preferably 45 degrees,

A ange member 40 provides in combination with the ridges 42, aconvenient gripping surface. The flange member 40 extends from the endwall and lies in a plane parallel to the plane of the bottom wall. Thevertical ribs 44 act as reinforcing members between the flange members30 and 40.

The vertical ribs 18, as seen in FIGURE 5, serve as reinforcing membersas well as spacers and thus add to the overall rigidity of the case. Inbeverage cases such as twelve compartment, quart bottle cases, thevertical spacer ribs which are located at the mid point of each of thefour walls of a compartment, may not be adequately rigid to withstandthe twisting forces exerted by the bottle against the rib. As a ribbends, the effective area within a compartment increases thus permittinga bottle to wobble. In addition, the partition walls are not adequatelyrigid to support heavy bottles and the resultant flexibility permittedthe spacer ribs to act like a doctors knife and peel paper labels offthe bottles. Hollow, tubular spacers having an appearance in side view,the same as the pair of spacer ribs 18a, of FIGURE 5, but having acircular plan configuration, not only will'not deform under the pressureof a heavy bottle, but also increase the rigidity of the partition wall.

Molded beverage cases are commonly provided with mechanical means suchas recesses in the bottom of the case to receive the top of the bottlesin the case below, and thus provide stability when cases are stacked.However, recesses adequately deep to provide stacking stability, tend toremove the caps or even break the necks of bottles when the top case isremoved by the commonly employed horizontal sliding process.

Grommets 16 are placed in lopenings in the bottom wall of the mold case10, in order to provide the case with a slip resistant surface. Thegrommets 16 must be of a sufiiciently hard material so that they canresist dirt pick-up and abrasion which interferes with their performancevand yet, must be of a sufiiciently soft material to provide a slipresistant surface. The grommets are preferably made of a non-markingrubber having about an 85 durometer hardness.

As seen in FIGURE 3, the lower surface of the grommet 16, is providedwith annularly positioned ridges or protrusions 46, which advantageouslyare ring-like n shape. The protrusion should extend from about 2/100 to4/100 of an inch from the surface of the grommet, preferably about 57100of an inch. The ring shaped protrusions 46, are about 1A of an inch indiameter and in combination form an annular ridge or protrusion havingan inner diameter of from about 1% to 1% inches.

The grommets 16, are employed in a pattern which permits the minimumnumber of grommets to be used while providing adequate stability whencases are stacked. In cases for carrying twenty four bottles such asseen for example in FIGURE 1, wherein the bottles are positioned in fourrows, six bottles to a row, at least six grommets should be used. Thefirst row contains a grommet in the bottom wall of the case, in thethird f i bottle position, the second and third rows contain grommets inthe first and sixth positions and the fourth row contains a grommet inthe fourth bottle position.

In cases, such as those used for carrying quart size bottles, thepattern usually consists of four rows, having three bottle positions toa row. At least six grommets are used and are placed between 'the firstand second bottle positions and between the second and third positionsin the first and fourth rows. The second and third rows contain grommetspositioned in particular bottle positions rather than between positions,and specifically in the first and third positions.

It should be noted that in the twenty four bottle case, the grommets inthe second and third rows are displaced sligh-tly from the midpoint ofthe bottle position. As seen in FIGURE 1, the grommets in the first andsixth positions of the second rows are diagonally displaced in thedirection of the second and fifth positions respectively, of the firstrow. Correspondingly, the grommets in the first and sixth positions ofthe third row are diagonally displaced in the direction of the secondand fth positions respectively of the fourth row.

As seen in FIGURE 6, consistent with the use of a minimum amount ofmaterial, partition intersections may be provided with apertures whichreduce weight and facilitate drainage of fluids.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred forms with acertain degree of particularity, it is understood that the presentdisclosure of the preferred forms has been made only by way of example,and that numerous changes in the details of construction and thecombination and arrangements of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a molded beverage bottle case having two end walls, two side wallsand a bottom wall, for carrying twenty-four bottles in a pattern whichconsists of six bottles in each of four coextensive, parallel rows, theimprovement which comprises a plurality of grommets having slipresistant surfaces positioned in the bottom wall of the case andextending downwardly therefrom, said grommets being locatedsubstantially in the center of the third and fourth bottle positions ofthe first and fourth rows respectively, and in the first and sixthbottle positions of both the second and third rows, wherein a portion ofeach of the grommets in the first and sixth positions of the second andthird rows extends inwardly towards the second and fifth positionsrespectively, whereby the weight of one case superimposed upon a secondcase will be supported by engagement of at least some of the grommetsthereof with the bottle caps of the second case.

2. The molded beverage bottle case of claim 1, wherein each end wall isprovided with handle means, said means including an opening, the portionof the perimeter of the -opening proximate the top edge of the end wall,being straight and parallel to the bottom wall of the case, the straightparallel perimeter portion gradually changing at each end lto slopingperimeter portions which meet at a position proximate the bottom wall ofthe container.

3. The molded beverage bottle case of claim 1, wherein the grommets havean annular pattern of discontinuous protrusions on their outer surface.

4. In a molded beverage bottle case having two end walls, two side wallsand a bottom wall for carrying twelve bottles in a pattern whichconsists of three bottles in each of four coextensive, parallel rows,the improvement which comprises a plurality of grommets having slipresistant surfaces positioned in the bottom wall of the case andextending downwardly therefrom, said grommets being locatedsubstantially in the center of the first and third positions of thesecond and third rows respectively and in the first and fourth rowsbetween the first and third positions whereby the weight of one casesuperimposed upon a second case will be supported by engagement of atleast some of the grommets thereof with the bottle caps ofthe secondcase.

5. The molded beverage bottle case of claim 4, Wherein the grommets havean annular pattern of discontinuous protrusions on their outer surface.

6. The molded beverage bottle case of claim 2, Wherein said handle meansincludes la ange member extending outwardly from the end Wall of thecase and lying in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of thebottom Wall, the lower inner edge of the handle forming said straightparallel perimeter portion of said opening, said end wall having a angemember proximate its upper edge lying in a plane parallel to the planeof the handle ange member and a plurality of reinforcing ribs extendingbetween the flange members of the end Wall and the handle.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1932 Lanz248-350 12/1932 Carlson 248-350 4/ 1952 Erickson 220-69 4/ 1958Brackett. 10/ 1963 Kazimier 220-21 9/ 1964 Cl-oyd 220-21 FOREIGN PATENTS9/ 1963 France. 7/ 1961 Great Britain.

15 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE E. LOWRANCE, LOUIS G. MANCENE,

Examiners.

1. IN A MOLDED BEVERAGE BOTTLE CASE HAVING TWO END WALLS, TWO SIDE WALLSAND A BOTTOM WALL, FOR CARRYING TWENTY-FOUR BOTTLES IN A PATTERN WHICHCONSISTS OF SIX BOTTLES IN EACH OF FOUR COEXTENSIVE, PARALLEL ROWS, THEIMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES A PLURALITY OF GROMMETS HAVING SLIPRESISTANT SURFACES POSITIONED IN THE BOTTOM WALL OF THE CASE ANDEXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THEREFROM, SAID GROMMETS BEING LOCATEDSUBSTANTIALLY IN THE CENTER OF THE THIRD AND FOURTH BOTTLE POSITIONS OFTHE FIRST AND FOURTH ROWS RESPECTIVELY, AND IN THE FIRST AND SIXTHBOTTLE POSITIONS OF BOTH THE SECOND AND THIRD ROWS, WHEREIN A PORTION OFEACH OF THE GROMMETS IN THE FIRST AND SIXTH POSITIONS OF THE SECOND ANDTHIRD ROWS EXTENDS INWARDLY TOWARDS THE SECOND AND FIFTH POSITIONSRESPECTIVELY, WHEREBY THE WEIGHT OF ONE CASE SUPERIMPOSED UPON A SECONDCASE WILL BE SUPPORTED BY ENGAGEMENT OF AT LEAST SOME OF THE GROMMETSTHEREOF WITH THE BOTTLE CAPS OF THE SECOND CASE.